Artificial smoke represents an important measure for camouflaging military targets. However, the recent successful realization and use of powerful heat imaging devices, for example, in tanks, has resulted in the artificial smoke no longer guaranteeing an adequate camouflage effect. Therefore, new camouflage smoke was developed that is also effective in the infrared spectrum. Thus, the publication DE 31 47 850 discloses a wide band camouflage smoke, which consists of powdery or droplet shaped smoke particles that absorb in the visible and infrared spectral range. Furthermore, a camouflage smoke is known from the publication DE 30 12 405 A1 which contains red phosphorous particles that are burned off and thus emit high infrared radiation that masks the heat image of the object to be protected from the heat imaging device of the attacking object.
One common drawback of this known infrared camouflage smoke, whether it exhibits particles emitting or absorbing infrared rays, is that due to the camouflage smoke that is employed not only the visibility of the attacker but also the visibility of the device generating the camouflage smoke is reduced, at least to the same degree. FIG. 1 shows such a typical situation. A denotes an attacking tank. At this stage it is to be assumed that the gunnar of tank A has detected tank B at a typical distance of 2,000 meters with his heat imaging device and initiated measure to combat it. To avoid this threat, the crew of tank B shoots in the near range an infrared effective smoke. Tank B produces a camouflage wall at a distance of, for example, 50 m with particles absorbing or emitting infrared radiation. Thus, the infrared signature of tank B can no longer be detected on the heat imaging device of tank A, but the visibility of tank B is thus reduced to the same degree. More specifically, on the heat imaging device of tank B the infrared signature of the attacking tank A can no longer be seen. Altogether the negative effect on the two tanks is even greater for tank B on account of the viewing angle covered by the camouflage wall. In the drawing the viewing angle of the heat imaging device of A is denoted as .alpha., whereas that of the heat imaging device of tank B is denoted as .beta..